GOTR NOVA

While our curriculum incorporates running, our purpose is to support pre-adolescent girls as they realize their unique potential, tap into their individual strengths, and unleash their confidence. When we invest our time, energy & funding in programs that support girls, they grow up to be strong, healthy, confident women.

Girls on the Run identifies several factors that, when present in her life, reduce risky and unhealthy behaviors, and ensure a brighter future for all girls:

SHE is Part of a Team.

Girls on the Run provides a team experience in a caring, supportive, and non-competitive environment. The strong bonds girls form over the 10-week program translate into new and lasting friendships.

SHE has a Female Mentor. 

Who knows what it’s like to be a girl better than a woman who’s been there herself? Every Girls on the Run team has a female head coach, who is trained to deliver the curriculum and mentor the girls throughout the season.

SHE has a Safe Place to Explore. 

During pre-adolescence, girls need a safe place outside home and school where they can explore their developmental changes and discover and appreciate their own unique gifts.

SHE is Physically Active.

The Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sports said it best, “Girls’ engagement with physical activity is about seeing and living physical activity as a vehicle for educational opportunity, a path to health and wellness, and a prescription for ensuring that every girl reaches her full potential.”

SHE Sets & Achieves Goals.

A girl builds confidence by going outside of her comfort zone. This is why the girls in our program prepare for and complete a 5K. Whether they run, walk, roll or skip across the finish line, it’s all about setting a personal goal and trying to achieve it.

SHE is Supported by her Community.

It takes a village to build strong girls. Every season we invite parents, siblings, teachers, volunteers, sponsors, and elected officials to participate in our program and end-of-season 5K. A sea of community supporters makes her feel proud to be a Girl on the Run.

 

Girls on the Run is a transformational physical activity based positive youth development program for girls in 3rd-8th grade. We teach life skills through dynamic interactive lessons and running games. The program culminates with the girls being physically and emotionally prepared to complete a celebratory 5k running event. The goal of the program is to unleash confidence through accomplishment while establishing a lifetime appreciation of health and fitness. Girls on the Run of Northern Virginia is an Independent Council of Girls on the Run International, which has a network of over 200 councils across the United States and Canada.